Page 13 of Pure Silence

Mornings were the worst. He was always stiff and sore, and sleeping on the couch had been a spectacularly bad idea. Not that he hadmeantto pass out there, and he swore to himself that he would make it to his bed tonight.

It was Friday, so he only had to make it through today. Then he’d have the whole weekend to rest and relax and do absolutely nothing.

Glorious, wonderful nothing.

Well, except Goldie finally checked his phone and saw he had an unread text message from Florence. He hadn’t noticed it when he was fighting with his alarm because he’d still been half asleep. It had been sent last night long after Goldie had already zonked out, and he made a face when he read it.

hey man u busy this weekend

So much for his glorious nothing.

He knew if Florence was asking, that meant he was coming to town and would expect to have one of their usual hangout sessions. The idea of sitting around and reminiscing over beer in some dirty sports bar didn’t sound like a good time, and Goldie debated how he was going to reply.

He could ignore it, but Florence would just show up at his front door if he didn’t answer. Florence was one of the only people in the world that had a spare key to his place.

He could lie and say he had plans, but Florence was nosey. He’d ask questions. He’d want to know what the plans were and who they were with.

Accepting his inevitable fate, Goldie replied:

Nothing much, you?

The phone rang.

Goldie groaned loudly.

The whole point of texting was to avoid talking, and he really did not want to answer. He waited for the ringing to stop, hoping Florence would take a hint and just leave a message.

The phone rang again.

Dammit.

Goldie picked up. “Hello?”

“Ha, you are awake!” Florence cheerfully greeted him. “Getting ready for work?”

“I was until you called,” Goldie grumbled, heading back to his bedroom.

“Oh, I’m sorry, princess. You need me to let you go so you can do your hair?”

“Fuck off.” Goldie smiled as he plopped down on the edge of his bed. “What the hell are you doing up so early?”

“Getting ready for work, same as you. Just checking in. I’m coming around your way this weekend, wanted to see if you were free. Which I’m guessing you are.”

“I might have plans,” Goldie replied defensively.

“Yeah?” Florence challenged. “What plans?”

“I met someone.” Goldie smirked.

Ha, it wasn’t a lie.

Technically.

“Oh?” Florence sounded intrigued. “Serious?”

“Still early, but maybe. I hope.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”